Australia

Farmwork in Australia

When I was 18, I flew to Australia to fulfill my dream; backpacking in Australia. I had an one year work & holiday visum. Because I was young, it was hard to find work. Eventually I found a job on a applefarm in Orange.

Picking apples in Australia

My job was to pick apples and fill the bins. This work was paid per bin, just like a lot of farmwork in Australia, instead of per hour. A bin was worth between the 30 – 36 AUD$, it depended on the type of apple.

In my first weeks I only picked about 3-5 bins per day. But after a few weeks I could pick at least 6 bins per day. At my max I got paid around the 240 AUD$ per day.

At the farm I paid roughly 20 AUD$ per week to set up my tent, use the shower and washing machine. Once a week we went to buy groceries in the town nearby. My expenses per week were around the 100 AUD$. If I had a good week I earned roughly 1700 AUD$.

Days off

I could choose my own working days and working hours. If i could, I picked every day at least 5 bins. Some days I gave myself a day off to explore the area, because we work to live and we don’t live to work 😉 Also, when it rained I wasn’t allowed to pick the apples, because the apples would bruise.

I did this work for two and a half months, so I could save enough money to travel to New-Zealand and do some great activities over there, but you’ll find out all about that when you visit that page. Despite the hard and boring job, I actually enjoyed it. I would recommend farmwork to you fellow backpackers. It’s a different side of Australia, which you definitely must get to know.

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